Ditching the diet already? Don’t worry, you have still done your heart some good

Dieting at any age has lasting benefits for heart and arteries regardless of
whether person later regains lost weight

Researchers examined the impact of lifelong patterns of body mass on cardiovascular risk factors in a group of more than 1,000 British men and womenPhoto: Alamy

By Daily Telegraph Reporter

6:10AM BST 21 May 2014

Dieting at any age is good for adults even if they put the pounds back on, researchers have found.

It has lasting benefits for their heart and arteries and reduces their risk of developing diabetes.

The effect was observed in people who dropped a body mass index category – from obese to overweight or from overweight to normal – at any time during their adult life, regardless of whether they remained at the new weight.

Researchers examined the impact of lifelong patterns of body mass on cardiovascular risk factors in a group of more than 1,000 British men and women born after March 1946.

The longer they had suffered excess body fat in adulthood the greater their cardiovascular-related problems in later life, the scientists found.

These included greater thickness of the carotid artery walls, higher blood pressure, and increased risk of diabetes.

Participants were classed as normal weight, overweight, or obese, in childhood and at the ages of 36, 43, 53, and 60 to 64. Their heart health between 60 and 64 was used to assess the effect of their lifetime exposure to body mass.

Prof John Deanfield, of University College London, said that the study was unique in following individuals for more than 60 years and allowing researchers to assess the effect of modest, real-life changes in excess body fat. “Our findings suggest that losing weight at any age can result in long-term cardiovascular health benefits, and support public health strategies and lifestyle modifications that help individuals who are overweight or obese to lose weight at all ages,” he said.

Only 2 per cent of the participants remained in a lower weight category for a sustained period, the study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, says.

BMI is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in kilograms by the square of their height in metres. A figure above 25 is normally regarded as overweight, and above 30 as obese.

Elizabeth Cespedes and Dr Frank Hu from the Harvard School of Public Health, added: “Overweight individuals might have even greater health benefit from lifestyle changes such as increased physical activity than do normal weight individuals.”

They said the study emphasised the importance of public health policies to help people achieve and especially maintain a healthy BMI, and they hoped future work would look at what weight loss was necessary for specific health benefits.